


let's play a love game.

by QueenSeal



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Drunk Sex, Falling In Love, Friendship, Gaming, Happy Ending, Internal Conflict, M/M, Overwatch - Freeform, esports au, foodplay kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 21:45:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15349410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenSeal/pseuds/QueenSeal
Summary: Pandora Bandits and Hyperion are rivals in the E-sports League. That is until Pandora Bandits have lost every single game for two years in a row, and forced to play on other teams in order to keep their League contracts. Handsome Jack, leader of Hyperion will gladly accept Rhys, his former rival, on his team, but not all turns out what they expect it to be.ORRhys goes through a journey on hating his team boss, to falling in love with him. A lot less actual game play than I meant, sorry.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Man I had so much fun writing this! Here is a list of everyones roles in the game, yes it's based around Overwatch. 
> 
> Hyperion Team:  
> DPS: **Jack** _(Soldier, junk, hanzo),_ **Nisha** _(mccree, tracer. reaper),_ **Athena** _(widow, genji, sombra),_ **Rhys** _(Mei, pharah, bas)_  
>  Support: **Tim** _(mercy, moira, brigitte, lucio),_ **Yvette** _(brigitte, zen),_ **Vaughn** _(mercy, ana, moira, zen),_ **Janey** _(lucio, ana, zen)_  
>  Tank: **Yvette** _(zarya, dva, orisa),_ **Wilhelm** _(rein, road),_ **Athena** _(orisa, winston, hammond)_  
>  Flex: **Tim, Nisha, Jack, Rhys, Janey**
> 
> Pandora Team:  
> DPS: Rhys, Sasha, Vasquez  
> Healer: Vaughn, Fiona, Janey  
> Tank: August, Sasha  
> Flex: Rhys, Sasha, Janey, and Vasquez

Here’s the thing… Pandora Bandits is on a losing streak threatened to go under as they lost their 30th game in a row in the last two seasons. The only thing keeping them alive is Rhys’ decently large streaming channel that he uses nearly all of his income from to support his team for the year.

Hyperion, on the other hand has lost 4 games in the last 4 years worth of seasons, and have won 8 tournaments in a row. They are the number one team in the league to the point where they could fuck around during a match and still win. 

The season was coming to an end, and Rhys knew he had to tell them. They were done, it didn’t matter who they brought in or what they did to try and get better, the team wasn’t communicating as they should and that caused them not a single win in 2 years. Rhys knew it wasn’t the players fault, they were all decently good, except Vasquez. He was in for the fame and wasn’t afraid to show it, but if even one person was underperforming the whole team suffered. They had to be equal or better than the other team in order to have a chance, and so far that hadn’t happened. 

The team decided it was best to take the offer the League had provided, of which the remaining active players would be available to be picked up by other teams, and they would join whoever had the highest offer. Back in the day, Hyperion was the rival of Pandora Bandits, when both teams made it to the semi finals with equally impressive stats. Pandora Bandits won, and they had been competing against each other ever since. This made Rhys apprehensive about offering off players though. Everyone knew Hyperion was the highest grossing team in the league, and their individual salaries to players was three times what Rhys could offer to his entire team for their work in a single year. The other problem is Rhys knew some of his players weren’t playing at a professional level. They most likely would be moving on with their lives, unable to be picked up by another team because no one wanted them. It was a hard truth Vasquez could deal with himself. 

So when Hyperion offered contracts to Rhys, Vaughn and Janey to join their team, a sigh of groans and “I told you so’s” echoed from his friend Vaughn.

“Bro, you knew this would happen! We’re stuck with our rivals, oh this is so humiliating!” he said, stuffing his face in a pillow to scream. 

“We don’t have any other choice bro! It’s either this, or I stream for the rest of my life. I need the thrill of a win.” Rhys complained, watching Vaughn shouting his displeasure into a pillow thinking he could also use a pillow to scream into, too. 

Two weeks later, Rhys, Vaughn, and Janey stood outside the Hyperion Mansion. It looked even bigger and fancier in real life. 

“Okay you lump losers, welcome to the mansion.” Their tour guide and new team mate Yvette told them. “This is our fancy ass dining room, reserved for special occasions or meetings.” Rhys saw a large wooden table, some papers and an empty plate scattered around one end. So far the entire house spoke “We’re sponsored by IKEA so we decided our entire house should consist of their items” and they had only seen two rooms.

“This here, is our gaming room. We practice scrims here, and have team meetings. It’s only to be used for those purposes, so don’t sneak in here to stream or anything.” Yvette shut the door and actually locked it with a keycard before they had a chance to look around inside. 

“Next up, we have our kitchen, and living room.” Yvette said. A young man who looked exactly like Jack, but didn’t, stood at the counter making a sandwich. “This is Timothy, he’s Jack’s twin brother, and currently stealing my peanut butter!” She suddenly yelled, whipping the can from Tim as she checked to see how much he took. 

“Sorry Yvette, I’m all out and groceries don’t arrive till tomorrow. Hey everyone!” he waved, smiling. They had some short introductions before Yvette moved them to the outside. 

“So I’ll be honest, we spend a lot of time outdoors. I know, our skin doesn’t show it, but who can beat having a massive pool with a waterfall and slide? Plus the hot tub is amazing at night, it’s got coloured lights inside and special massage jets.” 

Rhys knew he would be barely out here, preferring his air conditioned computer room. There was one girl currently sun tanning across the pool, and judging by the darker skin Rhys assumed it to be Nisha. From what little interaction he had with her before, she was pretty serious about the competition, and he knew her and Jack had a history. He wondered how the two even managed that, they were both dominate leaders who weren’t afraid to judge you for the slightest of things.

“Okay, so we have one more room on our main floor, it’s our social room. It’s got a bar, pool table, ya know, fun stuff. Once a month we host a party here, by invitation only.”

“And if I see any of your old team members, I will personally throw them to the curb from their dicks” said a loud voice behind them. The three turned to see none other than Jack. “Don’t wet yourself kiddos, I know, I’m hotter in person.” he winked directly at Rhys, he couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down his spine.

“Hey Jack, just giving the newbies the tour as requested. You wanna take it from here?” Yvette asked.

“Nah, I’m heading out. Heard that little asian shop stocked their peach pocky, I wanna hoard it all to myself” Jack said, laughing as he clapped his hands together as if buying the entire supply of pocky was his secret evil plan.

“Oh Rhys, you love pocky! The grape flavour, right?” Janey said next to him. Rhys really wished she just stayed quiet, he didn’t want to make a bad impression to the boss on the first day. 

However, Jack seemed almost excited by the notion. “Oh sweet, just don’t touch my peach ones or I’ll kill you. I’ll get you some while I’m there” 

“Oh um.. Thanks.” Rhys replied, an awkward laugh. They were trying to be friendly with them, he should at least try to be friendly back. First impressions were the most important, and essential to any team. “You know I don’t really eat pocky, I sorta just suck on the tip.. Or ah, the flavoured bit... I guess” He realized that sounded way too dirty and probably not the most appropriate thing to be saying his new team. “That sounded better in my head” he finished lamely.

Everyone just stood and stared at him. Jack had a calculating gaze in his eyes like he wanted to say something back, but never did. 

“Okay let’s just continue the house tour!” Yvette suddenly said, motioning them to follow her out of the room. Rhys gave an apologetic look at Jack, hoping he would understand he wasn’t trying to flirt or anything, just his choice of words were poor. Jack stared him down as he watched Rhys leave. 

Yvette showed them the second floor, which consisted of everyones room except Jacks, who had the third floor to himself. “Most of our rooms are spread across the house. Tim, Athena and Wilhelm are on the east side, Nisha and myself the west. You can pick your rooms, we currently have 4 available. Rhys, since you stream, you may want the room at the end of the hallway. It used to be Jack’s stream room till he moved upstairs, it’s got sound proof walls so we don’t have to listen to you talk all night.” 

With that, Yvette left them to get settled in their new home. Vaughn decided he wanted the room closest to Rhys as they hung out all the time. Janey had briefly met Athena, and now she wouldn’t stop talking about how great this was, specifically Athena. She picked the room next to her. 

The soundproof room wasn’t that bad after all. It looked like it was two rooms attached together, and he even had his own ensuite bathroom. The main bedroom had a large window overlooking the pool, and built in shelves lined the wall next to that. In the corner was a curtain hung up, which led to the inside of the sound proof room. This couldn’t be more perfect. 

Vaughns room was smaller than Rhys’ but had two large floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the mountains in the distance. A bed was already in the room, to which he had immediately laid down on, happily going on about never leaving such a comfortable mattress again. 

“Now I won’t have to use pillows as back support! I mean look at this bro, I can roll from one side to the other!” Vaughn laughed happily as he enjoyed his new room. 

A knock came at the door where they saw Yvette again. “Your moving trucks are here boys, you need any help moving stuff in?” 

The three of them spent the rest of the day moving in furniture, chatting about various topics as they got to know one another. Yvette had been a friend of Wilhelm in college, who shared a robotics degree with Jack. It was then Jack had convinced her to start playing the game, and when she ranked at high diamond in her first season he invited her to join the team. She had stuck around ever since. They discovered she had played an mmorpg before, one that Rhys and Vaughn also played regularly. She was a tank main, which excited the two because they always had to ask August to be their tank and he wasn’t really that great at the game. He understood basic knowledge, but was more into leveling and doing map completion than conquering dungeons and world bosses. 

“Dude, with Yvette joining us maybe we can actually complete those raids! This is so great” Rhys sighed, happily laying down on the couch in the living room downstairs. Vaughn joined him as they rested, because apparently they were way more out of shape than they thought. Moving furniture was hard. 

“Wassup dickfaces?” A very familiar voice said behind them. Jack walked into the kitchen with two bags full of various pocky flavours. “Here ya go Rhys” Jack said, tossing a couple boxes of grape pocky over to him on the couch. 

“Oh thanks Jack! This is great” he replied, opening the box. 

Jack came over and stretched out on the rather large chair, stuffing pocky in his mouth by the handful. “So how’s it going guys, you like your rooms?” Jack asked, and Rhys had to strain to hear through all the food in his mouth. 

“Yeah, they’re great! Yvette told me the soundproof room was your old streaming room? Which is perfect because I’m usually live till 2 am at least” Rhys said.

Jack nodded, finishing up the box of pocky in record speed. “Yeah, I had to soundproof at least one room after Wil and Tim were all pissed off that they could hear me. Old men, they sleep at like 10” Jack laughed. 

“Oh shit, it’s Fi. I gotta take this, cya guys” Vaughn said as his ringtone went off rushing out of the room, phone already to his ear.

“He’s still dating Fiona, one of our teammates” Rhys explained.

Jack didn’t look super impressed however. “They aren’t your teammates anymore, Rhys. We need you to be one hundred and ten percent committed to this team. I know we used to be rivals, but that was years ago. In all honesty you should be thanking me for even giving you guys a chance. I could’ve totally let you waste away out of the leagues existence.”

Rhys blinked, almost stunned by how serious Jack was about this. He took a deep breath to calm his raising anxiety levels. “You’re right, I’m sorry if I that came out wrong. Thank you, Jack, for this amazing opportunity, I’m actually really looking forward to playing with this team, even if I may still hold an ever so slight grudge against you guys for completely slaughtering us the past 3 years.” Rhys smiled at Jack, hoping he would understand.

Jack smiled back, reaching to open another box of pocky. “That’s great, exactly what we need. By the way, what do you play? I know you used to do a wicked Mei back in the day.”

“Yeah, I used to. Sometimes still do, but we have- had, like 4 people who would rather DPS, so lately I’ve been forced into Healer, Moira specifically. Vaughn’s our Mercy main though, he easily could top 500 if he tried. But, um, recently I’ve actually been playing Pharah on my own time. She’s dangerously fun”

“That’s cool. Me as Hanzo, and you as Pharah could wreck an entire team on our own I bet!” Jack said.

“Yeah, maybe get a mercy in there too, and we’d be set!” Rhys replied, laughing as Jack chuckled at the thought. They talked a while longer before the doorbell rang, and Jack got up to answer it.

“Oh good, you’re here. Rhys, gather your friends and we’ll talk with Gaige, our team manager and part time coach.” Jack called to him as he rushed off to find Vaughn and Janey. 

Once they were gathered in the meeting room, Gaige handed out a few stacks of forms for the three. “Heya guys. So up top they’re all so faaaancy about this stuff, but really I just need y’all to sign the bottom of each page, and fill out your info. Nothing bad in ‘ere, just that crazy “oh you belong to Jack now, don’t fuck shit up, league wants their paycheck, yadda yadda!” she mimicked. 

“So you’re part time coach?” Rhys asked as he started filling out the forms.

“Yup! Me ‘n Tina share the burden of keeping you twit jugs from ruining the sponsorships, but never from ruining the other team!”

“Tina is exactly like Gaige, but crazier and more unhinged. Trust me, you’re gonna want to be friends with her. And she will fuck ya if you play shit” Jack said. 

Much later in the day Rhys started his stream, tired from all paperwork earlier but it had to be done right away. He smiled as he selected his webcam, watching the chat go by with excitement. “Heya guys, welcome to my official “Rhys decorates his room” stream!” he said, laughing at the cheering chat. “Yeah I know, you finally get to see more of my sweet ass, I gotcha guys!”

**HandsomeJack: u bet ill b seeing ur sweet ass later rhysie**

Rhys paused as he saw Jack’s username in chat, re-reading what he just typed. “Oh, ahaha Jack please. You wish!” he laughed awkwardly, trying his best to cover the fact that his heart had started beating faster. He wasn’t even attracted to Jack, the hatred of the past 4 years still lingered, and besides, there no way Jack would ever have a crush on him. “I’m way to much of a lame-o for the likes of the mighty Handsome Jack!” he sputtered, laughing it off. Of course the chat always went crazy over other people in chat, especially because the news had broke that he joined Hyperion and lived at the mansion. 

Rhys spent the next hour unpacking boxes and placing various items around his room. Half of his chat actually had some great decorating advice and ideas, the other half just wanted to see if he would actually hang his bed upright from the ceiling and use his clock as a pillow. 

“Okay, I’m gonna get something to drink and I need to pee so badly. I’ll see you guys in like 5 minutes!” he told his webcam, before walking out the room.  
Back on stream, the webcam remained blank for a minute before his door creaked open slowly. Jack suddenly appeared on cam, and motioned for the chat to be quiet. A popular emote, monkaS, filled the screen as Jack carefully fitted himself inside the wardrobe and shut the door. Not 30 seconds later Rhys appeared again, barely looking at chat as he continued talking about where to put his posters. Jack waited until he walked in front of the wardrobe, before popping out yelling like a banshee. 

“HOLY MOTHERFUCKER” Rhys screamed, falling backwards on the floor as he crashed his head into the bedframe. “Ow! Jesus Jack!” he shouted, rubbing his head in pain. Jack climbed out cackling away, watching as the chat blew up in hysterics over his successful jump scare.

“Ahaha, Rhysie, that was hilarious!” Jack leaned down to help Rhys up, but instead was yanked down onto the floor, smashing his face into the boxes. 

“Yes! I still reign victorious!” he cheered as Jack cursed in pain. “That makes us even now Jack!” 

“Son of a taint... Where did it go so wrong!” Jack shouted, dramatically kneeling in utter defeat. Rhys smirked as stood, staring down at Jack. It seemed Jack had other plans though, because next thing Rhys knew he was on his back, staring up at Jack’s face who was kneeling on top of him. 

“But I always win” Jack said, quickly leaning in peck a kiss to Rhys’ cheek. He smirked as he got up, walking over to the webcam to see chat. Rhys laid still on the floor, mind racing over what just happened, not sure how to react.

“You kiddos always love a good show. Well I hope I didn’t kill your beloved Rhys, he’s still on the floor. How hard did you hit your head pumpkin? Gotta keep that brain in good shape for next season” he called behind him, smiling back at the chat. 

Rhys laughed, trying to make this as not awkward as possible. “Pretty sure I blacked out there for a second, you fuckprick” he said, elbowing Jack once he was upright. 

“Right well I’m outta here, got some Netflix to binge before we start scrims next week” he said, backing out of the room. Rhys waved goodbye before turning back to his stream, watching as all the KappaPride’s filtered through. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny guys. Right, what was I doing?”

The week continued much the same, Rhys would start his stream at exactly 5pm, and somewhere between 7-10, Jack would pop in for a bit to watch or hang out. Rhys has really started to take a liking to Jack. His blunt humour and sarcastic nature really complimented Rhys’s own personality, and besides, the chat loved seeing them together. His stream started to reach new depths, and his viewer count was at an all time high. Twice during the week him and Jack would gather themselves and an enormous pile of snacks on the couch and watch a movie. Rhys found it surprisingly fun, most people hated watching movies with him because he noticed every single continuity error, but Jack loved to debate over illogical decisions so no one was unhappy at pausing the movie every 5 minutes. Despite having once been rivals, Rhys’ leftover sour feeling slowly crept away and out of his life, the anger being replaced by a trusting, happy friendship. He really was enjoying this new life at Hyperion.

It can’t be all fun and games though. The new season was starting in two weeks and Jack had them practicing and playing scrims with the other teams almost everyday. If they weren’t playing the game, they were reviewing footage and picking out mistakes, working through what could have been better and what actually ended up working. Jack made sure everyone got to play different roles too, because they had at least three people now to fill and you needed to be on top of your game for each one. 

“Rhys, I told you not to fly in the open here! See now you’re dead because it’s so fucking easy for Widow on this point” Jack yelled, furiously clicking on his keyboard as he raced to dive under protection because Rhys failed to take down the widow and their Winston was still respawning. 

“Rez up!” Vaughn called.

“Rez Winston!” Jack interjected, before Vaughn could fly up to Rhys’ Pharah deathpoint. 

Vaughn resurrected Athena’s Winston and she jumped into action, the sniper going down seamlessly as the team took the point. “See?! Thankgod someone here can actually kill a Widow. Athena isn’t useless like you.” Jack argued. Rhys felt a pang of sadness, hurt, maybe anger even as he walked back to his team, Jack’s words ringing in his head. 

“What am I supposed to do? He’s appointed me as a Pharah main, I have like two really good plays in the same game, and then next round I fuck up a widow kill ONCE, and he’s being such a dick about it! God I hate him!” Rhys ranted to his friends later that week, Vaughn and Yvette, trying to calm down their friend.

“He’s always like this Rhys, our first game is in two days and Jack is serious about this team. He’s just trying to make sure we’re ready” Yvette said. 

“He doesn’t have to be such a fucktwit dick about it though. Like yesterday I asked if he wanted to help me review some footage from yesterday so I could work through those issues I had on Hollywood, and he just straight up stared at me with this stupid ass look of utter disappointment and then walked away! He actually just walked off without a single word! You stupid cunt!” Rhys yelled loudly right as Tim walked in the room, eyebrows raised at Rhys. “Sorry, that was for Jack” he muttered, sitting down in an angry huff. 

Tim coughed awkwardly, letting himself into the room. “Well anyways, I brought you some more Grape Pocky, and I heard you liked that anime Umaru, luckily for you they had one of these left. It’s an Umaru mochi, which looks delicious!” Tim said, handing the bag over to him. Rhys peered inside, and slowly pulled out the Umaru mochi. His guilty pleasure anime. 

A smile spread across Rhys’ face as he bit into the mochi, tasting a mixed flavour of lychee and lemon, the chocolate shell going surprisingly well with the flavours. “Tim I think I love you. This is so good!” he said, smiling at his friends.  
“Well it’s the least I can do for my asshole brothers behaviour. He can be mean, yes, but lately he’s been taking it way too far. You’re a team member now, and he should be treating you as such. You belong here, Rhys.” he said, gently squeezing Rhys’ shoulder in assurance. 

“Thanks Tim, this really helps. You’re a good friend” he replied, patting the hand on his shoulder. 

“Well at least you saved us from an entire night of ‘Rhys Rants’” said Vaughn. The group laughed, Tim staying to chat about various subjects for the next hour. Rhys was feeling a tiny bit better, but handling Jack was still tough. He didn’t even see Jack for the next two days as meetings with some sponsors and the management team kept Jack out of the house. The only times he did have contact with him were team meetings, but it wasn’t like they had to actually interact with each other. 

“You feeling ready, bro?” Rhys asked Vaughn, as his friend nervously stood backstage waiting for the call.

“Not at all bro! I know we’ve done this all before, but Hyperion has a reputation! We have a reputation now too!” 

“Calm down bro, you’re gonna be fine! Jack picked you for a reason and you totally deserve it! Best healer in the world as far as I can tell!” Rhys replied, smiling in encouragement. 

He didn’t have time to say anything else as the stage manager escorted the team out of the room, leaving only Rhys, Janey and Wilhelm behind. They gathered to watch the monitors as the teams were introduced. The crowd cheering like crazy when Jack walked out in a leather jacket with sunglasses, and fake pistols on his hips. He paused halfway and took his guns, pointing them at the crowd pretending to shoot down enemies. He posed, smirking at the camera before walking to the rest of his waiting team. The announcers laughed, and made jokes him showing off and that no man should allowed to be that good looking and playing video games for a living. Minutes later the match started and right away Rhys could tell something was off. Both Nisha and Yvette were caught out 40 seconds in, Vaughn made a bad call and got Tim killed, and about 2 minutes in they had the first point done. The calls coming over voice comms wasn’t looking good either.

“Athena protect me! You’re too far to the left!” Jack yelled.

“Well maybe if Vaughn healed me, I’d be alive to place correctly!” She shouted back.

“I got killed by their Reaper, who is flanking and no one seems to care!”

“Stop whining and kill him yourself!”

“You’re DPS, it’s your job!”

“Heal the tanks please!”

“Don’t make me cut your dicks off later”

“Dive them already!”

“We need a fucking Pharah”

“HEAL ME”

“WE’RE BOTH DEAD”

“Fuck this I’m killing myself, work it out yourselves”

Rhys sighed, watching as the next map went no better and it was clear they weren’t working together. Jack kept insisting they needed someone who could fly behind so his Hanzo could take down the tanks, but Nisha as widow couldn’t get past the shields, and was getting dove by a D.va the entire game, leaving one DPS, and because the reaper kept flanking but Jack was too busy fighting off the front lines, the healers got killed, the enemy team pushed in and before they knew it the point was lost. Two maps later and it was 0-2. 

Jack came storming in during half time, shouting so loud that the managers had to ask him to be quiet because you could hear the yelling on the broadcast upstairs. Jack was furious, and even more angered when Yvette shoved him outside the building and wouldn’t let him back in until he calmed down. 

“You keep asking for a Pharah, Jack. Rhys mains her, he knows what he’s doing, let him play.”

“What? I’m not gonna do that. If everyone else would just listen and actually play the damn game, we might be winning right now!” he yelled back.

“Jack. Stop being such a selfish douchebag, and go ask Rhys”

Jack huffed, leaning against the cool wall that seemed to help put out his inner rage. “I would… but he probably doesn’t even want to. He hasn’t said a word to me all week”

Yvette rolled her eyes, “Jack you told him he shouldn’t be playing, that he was useless, and you would rather have someone else. You hurt him, and you need to apologize. He’ll play just fine, but you owe that before you even ask him to swap in” Jack knew she was right, he was being a bit of a dick to Rhys, and the team could certainly use his skill to win the match. 

“Fine, go tell him to come out here, I’ll ask” he said. Yvette nodded, walking back inside.

Rhys walked out seconds later, hands stuffed in his jeans pockets as he awkwardly stood in front of Jack. “So… you wanted to talk to me?”

“Rhys I… I owe you an apology.” Rhys raised his eyebrows, like that was exactly what he wasn’t expecting. “Shut up, I know apologies isn’t a Jack thing to do. But I’m doing it now because you don’t deserve to be treated like I did this week. We could really use your Pharah right now, and so I’m hoping maybe you’ll swap in?”

Rhys nodded slowly, considering. “I have one term though.”

Now it was Jack’s turn to raise brow, looking up to Rhys. “Okay. What is it?”

“I get to pick the movies we watch for a week” he responded, knowing that him and Jack got into a slight habit of watching movies together on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Jack laughed, smiling. “Sure, that seems fair. God we haven’t done that in forever, I’m looking forward to it” 

He went to open the door, opening his arms to let Rhys through but instead Rhys leaned in and hugged him, quickly darting back when Jack wasn’t hugging back. 

“Sorry, thought you were- we should get going” he stumbled out, rushing inside. 

“Hey Rhys!” he called, running to catch up with him. “We’re friends right? Who the hell says we can’t hug?!” Jack smiled, embracing his teammate anyways, happy when Rhys laughed back giving him an awkward pat on the back. 

“Hyperion, we’re live in 2 minutes!” came a voice from down the hall. Jack quickly told the team they were swapping in Rhys and Wilhelm for Nisha and Athena, as they made their way onstage. The crowd of course cheered when they saw Rhys come out, excited to see how he would work with his former rival team. Even the announcers were talking about past plays and what he might bring this season.

Rhys took a deep breath, a nod of encouragement from Jack and a bro fist from Vaughn, before the game started and they were ready to attack. The map was Nepal Sanctum, perfect for some good ol’ Pharah booping enemies into the abyss.

The game started and as soon as Rhys saw the Widowmaker, he started heading around the back. “I’m flanking the Widow, right side, keep them left for me!” he called, flying around the side where only certain heroes could travel across. He reached the Widow, crouched walked behind her and two shots into the back of her head and she was dead. The enemy team had already pushed up into point, Rhys was shocked to see no one on the bridge. He went behind them yet again, killing off the two healers before blasting one tank off the side, laughing away as he got the triple kill. 

“Nice one Rhys!” Yvette cheered, setting up on point to await the next push. Rhys hid behind them again, waiting until they got closer to the control point. Unfortunately he made a mistake in using his E ability too early, and the widow headshotted him down. He heard the crowd react, but suddenly Vaughn was next to him and he was resurrected.

“The clutch Rez!” he yelled, quickly killing off the distracted widow before their main healer died. “Ult now, Yvette!” 

The Zarya grav went off, and Rhys got behind them, booping them into her ult as Jack set off his dragons, getting a Quintuple kill from it.

“Left, one hit Jack!” Rhys called, smiling as Jack shot one arrow at the fleeing Reaper, shooting him dead and the Sextuple kill filling the screen. The crowd was going crazy from the amazing play, the announcers immediately going in to review what went down. The final 2 minutes of the map went by in an instant, Rhys killing off their widow and healers before they even got through the doorway forcing the rest of the team to back off and wait, or go in and die. 

“Rhys, this next map take the play of the game, I’ve had far too many sextuple kills with this combo, your turn” said Jack, giving him a thumbs up. Rhys smiled back, confirming with his team what they were planning. 

It couldn’t have gone better if they tried. The ultimates were played perfectly, Jack took care of any problems for Rhys which left the entire enemy teams backs open and ready to be hit by a Barrage, Rhys cackling away as his ult after ult killed the entire team in one go. 

‘Hyperion Wins!’ was cast across the screens as his teammates hugged, celebrating their first win in the new season. Jack caught Rhys’ eyes as their team group hugged, he couldn’t help but notice how cute Rhys’ face was when he smiled. Those little dimples by his mouth, the sparkle in his eyes. Jack was pretty sure he was in love.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only split this into two because it's just long enough that mobile readers will hate me for posting 9k words in a single chapter. Enjoy and you're welcome!

The next day it was announced there would be a Hyperion mansion party, to celebrate their first win of the season. Everyone always wanted in because the gathering was always extravagant, booze and snacks were on the house and the pool in the hot summer air was a favourite. 

“Dude I’m so glad Jack allowed you guys to attend, I miss my besties!” Rhys cheered as Fiona, Sasha and August joined the Hyperion trio by the bar. 

“Oh oh! Let’s play Kinks Up!” Sasha said, getting hyped up. 

“What’s that?” Yvette asked joining the group as she stood next to Rhys.

“Okay basically we all decide on a person in the crowd, and we try and guess what their sex kink is. If you disagree you take a shot, and if we all collectively agree, we all take one shot.” Rhys explained, before calling the bartender over for a tray of shots of vodka. 

“Oh and you’re forgetting, if you have that kink you gotta BJ the shot” Fiona added, laughing. 

The group picked a random guy who no one really knew, before adding their guesses. 

“He’s got glasses, I bet he has a cum on face kink” Sasha said. 

“No no, what about a golden showers kink? He looks the type” Yvette added. 

Everyone except Rhys and Yvette agreed, and he threw the shot back trying not to gag at the harsh flavour. “Anyone got that kink themselves?” he asked, pointedly looking at Sasha. 

“Pfft you know I do Rhys. Nothing hotter than some creamy glasses” She laughed while taking a shot, the rest of the group besides August groaning at the unneeded information.

The game continued for several more people before Rhys was taking his 7th shot and really starting to feel the alcohol. Fiona fell off her chair from laughter and Vaughn couldn’t even help her up he was so drunk. 

“Okaaay guys. I’mma go get some water” Rhys said, dragging himself from the table and towards the kitchen. His vision was starting to blur a little bit, and he didn’t notice the person standing around the corner until his face was smashed into the neck of someone else, who smelt really good for some reason so Rhys felt quite content to just stay there. 

“Oh.. Rhysie, hey” Jack stumbled out, clearly rather intoxicated himself.

“You smell good” Rhys mumbled, still leaning into Jack. Jack heaved him forward to lean against the counter, body flush against each other because Jack couldn’t hold himself upright enough. 

“Saw you hanging with your friends over there, what was the drinking game?” Jack asked

Rhys laughed, finally bringing his face up to look at Jack. “Trying to guess someone else's kinks”

Jack hummed, nodding. “And what kinks do you guess I have?” 

Rhys stared at him, sticking his tongue slightly as he thought about it. “Hmm… maybe bondage and voyeurism? Foodplay?” 

Jack smiled as he reached behind Rhys to grab something “You’re right, especially on the food play” he said as put a piece of melon between his teeth, smirking as he leaned in closer.

Rhys wasn’t sure if some hidden feelings were trying to emerge or he was just very drunk and horny, but he took the piece of melon between his lips, and started sucking on it, exaggerating the lick of his tongue over the tip as he held eye contact with Jack. The older man moaned appreciatively, grinding his hips into Rhys’s growing bulge with the smallest of motions. 

“Fuck it, let’s find a bedroom” he growled out, taking the melon and throwing it into the trash can. Rhys allowed himself to be dragged upstairs, and they found their way to Jack’s third floor bedroom, Rhys immediately being pushed up against the door as soon as they were inside. 

Tongues clashed against each other as they kissed, Jack running his hands down the back of Rhys’ jeans as he grabbed at his butt, squeezing it hard. Rhys moaned loudly, running his hands over Jack’s waist as he pushed them up from the door and onto the bed. He climbed on top of Jack, stripping his shirt off and fumbling to undo Jack’s belt. 

“Here, lemme help” Jack mumbled, kicking all of his clothes off as Rhys waited. As soon as Jack laid back on the bed, completely nude, Rhys crawled over to him, bending down close to his quickly hardening cock. 

“Oh fuck Rhys…” Jack moaned as the others hot breath washed over his member, twitching in anticipation. Rhys smiled, biting his lip, before slowly taking Jack’s cock the entire length, painfully applying a little suction as Jack started growling from the tease. Jack gripped Rhys’ hair, forcing him down farther as he tried to keep himself from gagging, being drunk was not helping. A few minutes later Jack pulled Rhys off, and up to kiss him again. He pushed Rhys back on the bed, forcing his legs up over his shoulders. Jack leaned to grab lube from bedside table, lathering it over his fingers as he waited for Rhys to give the go ahead.

Rhys nodded, hissing in pain as Jack worked him open. It had been so long since he was last fucked, but even through the drunkenness, Jack took it slow and waited until Rhys was fully open. When he started squirming, trying to thrust into Jack’s hand he stopped moving, smirking at Rhys’ reaction.

“Oh.. please don’t stop. Fu- Fuck me now Jack, please” Rhys begged, face flushed red.

“Eagar aren’t you?” Jack teased, before slowly inserting himself into Rhys. Jack was much, much bigger than a few fingers, and Rhys had to wait until the pain subsided, gladly accepting Jack’s tongue as they made out in the most messy way. 

Rhys didn’t even notice when Jack started to move, only feeling the increasing passion as Jack slammed into his ass over and over again. 

“Oh Jack… yes” Rhys moaned in appreciation as the older man grunted on each thrust, pace getting faster with each passing second. 

“Shit Rhysie, you’re so god damn tight, fucking sexy” Jack growled, grabbing Rhys’ cock, stroking in rhythm to his own thrusts. 

“I’m so close” Rhys whispered, another loud moan coming out as he felt the rush of heat into his member.

“You want my cum, baby?” Jack said, “Fuck I’m gonna come”

A few more thrusts and Rhys was thrown over the edge, back arching in ecstasy as thick white streams were laid over his chest. Jack followed mere seconds later, one final moan as he unloaded inside Rhys.

“Shit that was so good” Jack laughed as he collapsed on top of Rhys, who was already falling asleep. “Rhysie, babe, you gotta move yourself” Jack said, coaxing Rhys into laying in the bed properly. 

“Oh fuck” Was all Rhys said as sat up, racing to the nearest bathroom as the alcohol caught up with him. Jack came over and rubbed his back while Rhys threw up into the toilet, his whole body shivering. 

“Sleep here pumpkin, I’m not sure you’d even make it to your own room without passing out.” 

The pair laid down in Jacks bed, an arm placed over Rhys as they fell asleep.

_____________________________________

For a second, Rhys panicked because when he woke up he didn’t recognize his surroundings. The pounding pain of a headache reminded him of what occured the night before, although his memory was spotty. Did he and Jack actually have sex? Or did he throw up before that happened? He definitely remembered the throwing up, and someone rubbing his back.

He rolled over to see Jack missing, and when looking at the bedside clock, he noticed a note from Jack and some tylenol.

_Hope this helps, see you later for scrims. -Jack_

Rhys gladly accept the tylenol, and took Jack’s note with him and he ventured back to his own room to change clothes. Last night didn’t mean anything, right? I mean, Rhys wasn’t exactly attracted to Jack, sure he was good looking but Rhys was so drunk, he would’ve done that with almost anyone. Assuming this was just a one night stand type of deal, he brushed it off and didn’t think much of it.

In fact he hardly saw Jack for the next two days as a major new sponsor was interested and Jack wanted to get the fine print done with as soon as possible. He decided to text Jack, see when he would be home again. 

**Rhys: Hey, we still on for movie tonight? Remember I get to decide ;P**

**Jack: God damn yes! I need a fricking break from all this other shit. See you at 9 x**

Rhys laughed and rolled his eyes, always so flirtatious Jack was. When 9 pm rolled around, Rhys came downstairs to find Jack fumbling with the couch cushions, several blankets stacked next to him.

“What’re you doing?” he asked. 

“Well because I’m total child and the bestest idea inventor ever, I am trying to build a blanket fort. Wanna help?” 

Rhys couldn’t deny the child-like sheen in Jack’s eyes at building a blanket fort, so he gladly went over and started helping him stack the cushions, leaving the blanket open in the front so they could see the TV. Rhys found some electric candles to place behind the blanket, creating a glowing star effect above them, Jack returning with arms full of various snacks and drinks for them. 

“Okay, you better have picked a decent movie, I wanna stuff my face with all of this tonight” Jack said, before seeing the inside of the fort. “Holy hell babe this is impressive!” 

“Well I figured it could use some soft light. Here let me take those” Rhys said as Jack handed him the bags of chips while he got himself settled into the blankets and pillows. Rhys started up the movie, Jurassic Park, and Jack commented how he liked it was the original, because the newest movies were okay, but nothing ever beats the 1993 film.

Both and Rhys and Jack are talkers during movies, so what should have been a 2 hour movie ended up being 3 and a half hours setting themselves late into the night, food comas taking over. They talked more about the movie after it ended, laying back into the pillows as the candles flickered over head creating a rather cozy aroma. 

“Hey Rhysie, give me your hand for a second” Jack said, reaching over to take his hand anyways. 

“Why?” he questioned, turning to face Jack.

“Cause I wanna do a palm reading. Was reading about it yesterday and now I wanna try” 

Rhys actually laughed at the absurdity, yanking his hand away from Jack. “Yeah right, like you know how to read palms” 

Jack scoffed, pretending to be utterly offended. “How dare you question my ability! Cmon Rhys… It’ll be fun!” he squealed out, trying to reach past Rhys to grab his hand again. 

“No!” Rhys laughed, hiding his hand as he rolled over. 

“Yes!” Jack said, climbing over Rhys’ shoulder as they fought over a hand, Jack cackling when he managed to pull Rhys’ skinny weak arm out from under him. 

Rhys huffed and rolled his eyes, “Fine, I guess you can” he drawled out, giving his hand over for Jack to look at. 

Jack smiled excitedly, pulling Rhys as close to him as possible while he explained what each line meant, and why that was.

“Oh wait, and this line here, means you think Jack is handsome and sexy, and totally are drooling over his extreme hotness” Jack said, smirking as Rhys pulled his hand back.

“You’re so full of bullshit” Rhys said, laughing as he adjusted the pillow behind him. “Well I don’t know about you but I’m going to sleep, I’m so fucking tired” he said while yawning, getting comfortable. 

“It is getting late. Night Rhysie” Jack said, turning off a few of the candles before settling down himself. Jack laid there, thinking for a while however. Rhys never said anything about what happened while they were drunk, and he wasn’t going to pressure that. He came to the conclusion that either Rhys did remember, but wasn’t saying anything about it because it was just a one night stand for him, and he wasn’t attracted to Jack in anyway. Or, he was blackout drunk that night and no idea. Jack didn’t like either option, but he knew that if Rhys wasn’t going to get attached, neither was he. There was a lot more at stake here than feelings. What if they were dating and then had a fight and it bled over into the competition? That could compromise the lineage of success he worked so hard to build up, and Jack would never let that happen. Maybe it was best for both of them if they just remained friends.

So when Jack woke up to Rhys snuggled into him, sleeping happily using Jack as a pillow, he really tried to remind himself that Rhys was, in fact, not in love with him. (It didn’t work very well.)

Hyperion finished their first week at 4 wins, 0 losses. Everyone on the team played their part well, and they were all looking forward to the nice 4 day break they would get. Rhys was happy to finally start streaming again, which is what he was currently set up to do. Him and Jack were going to play Rainbow Six Siege together, which he was excited for because anything other than Overwatch was good right now. Playing professionally tended to burn you out quickly, not to mention the fact that it could become very competitive very quickly, and all Rhys wanted was to have a good time. 

“Rhys, JungleGod88 wants to know what your favourite colour is. It’s blue right?” 

“You’d be correct! I really like a good sky blue if I’m honest. Oh, speaking of sky blue, you up for Monday Blues tomorrow?” Rhys asked, smiling at their code word for swimming.

“You bet your ass!” Jack replied, laughing.

“For chat who doesn’t know, monday blues is me and Jacks code word for swimming. I made a stupid joke about washing away typical ‘monday blues’ and good ol’ Jack here thinks that water is blue.”

“Yeah it’s blue, so it’ll wash away all the monday blues, and make you happy and rock your shit!” 

Rhys rolled his eyes, sighing. “Guys don’t tell him water is actually clear” he whispered into the mic, even though Jack could still hear him in Discord.

Eventually Monday rolled around, and Rhys was looking forward to spending some time outside. While he was definitely not an outdoor person, after being cooped up in a windowless room for scrims and then being in a studio 5 days a week, he was ready for some sun on his skin. Today was going to be a good day, he could feel it. He woke up peticularly happy, listening to some happy indie pop songs while he relaxed at his desk. Currently, he was headed down to the washing machines in the garage to grab his favourite towel. Nothing like a fresh, clean, and warm towel to wrap yourself in after some swimming. 

He fetched his towel and then headed out the side door, but was stopped in his tracks when he saw Nisha furiously making out with someone, and he yelped when he saw it was Jack. Jack pushed Nisha off of him, looking to see Rhys standing there, but it was too late. Rhys’ eyes started to tear up, and he stumbled back through the door before running. He ran back through the house, not even sure why he was so affected by this, but it didn’t matter anyway, he felt heartbroken and needed to just let his emotions happen. He ran past Tim, who tried to stop him when he could clearly see him crying, but slipped past and up into his bedroom. 

Timothy went to go follow Rhys, ask what happened and why he was in tears, but then suddenly Jack came running through the house, shouting for Rhys. This time he made sure his brother didn’t get past so Jacks idiocy didn’t ruin someone. 

“Tim, stop! Let me go, I just-”

“No, Jack, just tell me what the fuck is happening!”

“Tim let me through!”

“JACK LAWRENCE STOP FIGHTING ME” Tim yelled so loud he was pretty sure the neighbours heard. This actually made Jack stop, taken aback by his twin. He certainly was not used to Tim yelling, ever. “Great, I got your attention. Now tell me what the fuck is happening. Why did Rhys run past me, crying, and suddenly you follow behind calling for him? I thought you two were close.”

Jack sighed, pulling Tim into the game room and shutting the door. “Rhys and I… Tim, I’m in love with him. Like actually in love, but he always seemed so happy just to be friends, he never brought up times where the boundaries were pushed, and I assume he feels the same way now? Even if he did, I’ve gone and ruined all that. I let my emotions slip and then just Nisha was trying to kiss me and of course Rhys happened to walk in… I’ve just thrown away any chance at all with him.” Jack explained to Tim, who was smirking at Jack. He actually laughed, and Jack’s anger started to boil over.

“What the fuck Tim! I tell you this deep dark secret of mine and you’re laughing at me!” 

“What? No, I’m sorry I shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s just funny Jack. You’re an idiot to think Rhys doesn’t feel something for you! Why else would he react this way? If he wasn’t attracted to you at all, he probably would’ve just told you guys to get a room, and walk away.”

Jack thought about this. Maybe Tim was right. He never was good at reading emotions, hell he can’t tell what his own thoughts and feelings are sometimes.

“Jack I’m gonna be blunt with this. You need to tell him how you really feel. Even if Rhys hasn't admitted it to himself yet, only a man who is in love would feel heartbroken over seeing you kiss someone else. Do it now before it’s too late.” Tim said, patting his brothers shoulder before leaving the room. Jack stood there, thinking. He should tell Rhys. Doesn’t matter if Rhys hates him now, he deserves to know how Jack truly feels. And Jack would be lying if he wasn’t curious about Rhys’ feelings for him too.

Meanwhile Rhys was upstairs, in his room curled into a ball on the bed hoping that enough blankets might smother him and he wouldn’t have to deal with the pain he felt in his heart. He knew now, why everything happened the way they did. He was falling for Jack without even realizing it. Jack seemed to reciprocate those same feelings too, but he was always flirtatious. He’s Jack, he’s not someone who loves and commits. Everyone knew he fucked for pleasure and never romance. I mean how many girls has he had over since Rhys joined the house? He couldn’t recall any, but he was sure it was bound to have a happened at some point. 

Before Rhys could think any farther though, a knock came at his door. “Rhys can you let me in? We really need to talk.” Jack said.

“I don’t want to talk to you Jack. Please leave” he said back, hiding his head again.

“Open the door Rhys”

“No why should I” he scoffed. 

“Because I need to talk to you” Jack pleaded.

“Why don't you talk to Nisha, she seems like she’ll actually want that” Rhys replied. He knew he was being childish, but he really just needed to be alone right now.

“Don’t be that way Rhys”

“Go away Jack” 

“I'm gonna kick this door down” Jack said, but was only met with silence. “Rhys just please open up, I really need to tell you something, it's important”

After standing outside Rhys’ door for what felt like an hour, Rhys opened the door but didn’t say a word as he walked past Jack and down the stairs. Jack followed, and found Rhys in the lounge leaning against the pool table, fiddling with the eight ball. 

“Rhys… please just hear me out-” Jack started to say, but Rhys cut him off.

“No Jack, listen to me. I didn't even think I liked you at first and I was just trying to make ends meet so I would still have a job as a professional gamer but then you actually seemed like a good guy and so I decided to make friends and that was great! Then that first night on stream when you jump scared me and tackled me to the floor, that’s when I knew something was up because why else would I feel all weird and awkward about that if I thought something more than friends with you? And then that smile you gave me after the first win, every day we hung out last week, and god we had sex Jack! Sure we were both pissed, but it all just fit together so well and I was finally starting to see that I really liked you and I thought maybe I am attracted to you, but I never really pursued that because I didn’t think you’d like me back and that we were just, I don’t know, friends with benefits? And then I see you making out with Nisha and now I know for sure, you like her, you have a history with her, and maybe you were just hanging out with me because I’m new, but as soon as I start acting like I actually love you, you back away because that’s not how you work, right? You fuck for pleasure not for romance. I can’t believe i let myself get this far, so stupid!” Rhys yells, smashing the pool ball down on the table with a loud thwack.

Jack sighed and walked over to Rhys, grabbing his shoulders forcing him to face Jack. “Rhys, I need to tell you something very important. Firstly, yes me and Nisha have a history but that ended months before the last season. I don’t have feelings for her, not now, not ever. Secondly, I am actually capable of loving for romance, and being in a relationship. Which is why I have to tell you, that I am in love with you Rhys. Simple as that. I have grown to fall in love with everything about you, and I want to be yours for the rest of my goddamn life.” Jack watched Rhys’ face, trying to decipher his emotions.

Rhys looked around, scratching at his head, conflicted in his feelings. “Jack I just… I don’t know, I’m not sure- I-” But Rhys was cut off by Jack pressing his lips to his, and he almost jerked back but this kiss was different. It wasn’t sloppy and full of tongue, it was passionate and loving and gentle but determined. It was like all the hurt feelings were sucked out of him, and he was only left with a happy, loving care. He kissed back like his life depended on it, wanting this moment to never end because suddenly Rhys felt at home, like this was specifically meant for him, and he loved it. 

Rhys chuckled, leaning back to stare at Jack, “So… Can I say I love you now?” he asked, a little bit sheepishly. 

Jack laughed, smile reaching his eyes as he cupped Rhys’ cheek. “Yes, you can. Because I love you too” he said back, before the two kissed again, all feelings of hate or heart break gone.

_____________________________

A couple days later the entire team was enjoying the summer weather, Jack and and Wil having a jumping competition on who can make the biggest splash. Yvette and Vaughn were lounging with Nisha on the inflatable tubes, cheering on the guys and judging who won. Jack inevitably lost, huffing in fake anger as Wil was showered with splashes of water for his winning celebration. 

Rhys watched in humour as he sat on the edge of the pool next to Tim, sipping drinks. Jack swam up to him, smiling as he grabbed his sunglasses, stealing a sip of Rhys’ drink. 

“Sorry you lost Handsome” Rhys said, smiling.

“Maybe a kiss would make me feel better?” Jack asked, already pulling Rhys down to reach his lips. Before they could however, Jack grabbed Rhys and threw him into the water with him, cackling with laughter. 

“Jesus Jack! What if I knocked my head out and drowned or something!” he shouted once resurfaced, swimming back over to where his boyfriend was almost dying with laughter. 

“Awe Rhysie baby, you know I wouldn’t let you drown” he replied, wrapping his arms around Rhys’ waist to bring him closer. Rhys smiled, running a hand through Jacks hair, landing at his neck. 

“Well I guess I’ll need my saviour around, huh?” Jack smirked, leaning in to kiss Rhys, who happily returned the kiss, heart soaring.

“Get a room!” yelled Tim from the side of the pool, the pair breaking apart to laugh. 

“I love you, Rhys” Jack said, smiling.

“I love you too, Jack” he replied, finally feeling where he was meant to be. He thought him and Jack would never get along, but now he’s found someone who he so deeply and truly loves. 

And that’s the best feeling in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I hoped you enjoyed this little fic! Yes for those wondering, I am a Pharah main and I didn't want to make myself look like an idiot trying to put Rhys in a character I didn't know very well. Considering I'm a Top 500 Pharah, I would like to think I know what I'm talking about!
> 
> Anyways, this work was inspired by another gaming AU for Rhys and Jack, you can read that here:  A Gamer's Heart by cuddlypillow 
> 
> Their work got me thinking to a AU I had planned for Assassin's Creed, but never fully wrote it out. After starting to write this with Jack and Rhys, I realized the gaming topic was better suited for them, plus I could add romance!


End file.
